Friends 'Till The End
by Fancharacters-Equal-Fun
Summary: A "darker" look at what happened when the Pound went down. K-up for safety. One-shot, I'm absolutely horrible at summaries o-o'


**Author's Note: **I don't own Neopets. I really wish I did, but so far my wishes aren't coming true :( Oh well. Have a story :D

* * *

><p><em>Neopets can't die…<em>

_Why not?_

_It doesn't sound so bad… after all…_

_It can't be that much worse…_

"Rayla? What'cha doing?"

"Nothing, Hayling. Nothing at all."

"But that's all you ever do!" the Acara laughed. "Won't you play with me?"

The Xweetok sighed. "Sometimes I wonder what you find happy in this place." she said. "Nevertheless, I shall be there in a minute."

"Yay!" Hayling turned back to her toys. Rayla quietly picked up a plush toy and opened her cage, walking over to Hayling. "Here I am."

"You brought a plushie!" Hayling said, hugging the toy. "And it looks like me!"

"That's why I thought you might like it." Rayla said, handing her the stuffed Purple Acara. "I couldn't find one that looked like me, though."

"That's okay! I have lots of different dolls you can use!"

"Hmm," Rayla smiled. _I always think better of Neopia when I'm with Hayling… she's the only nice thing in my life,_ she thought.

"Hey! You could use Jeran!"

"Jeran?"

"Hero of Meridell? You've heard of him?"

"Yes, Hayling, I've heard of him. But if I'm him, then who will you be?"

"I'll be Lisha!" smiled Hayling, picking up another figure.

"Hey, how come you at least get to be a girl?" Rayla teased.

"Because I-" Hayling was cut off mid-sentence.

"Quickly!" Rayla hissed. "He's coming! I hear him!" She began picking up the dolls, Hayling helping. The two practically jumped back into their cages and closed the doors, Rayla re-locking them. Just in time, as well, for 10 seconds later Dr. Death walked in their room. "I thought I heard something in here… were you two trying to escape?"

"No, sir," Rayla responded. _Heh, escape… he thinks of it worse than I do! I wonder why he still works here?_ she thought.

"No, Dr. Death… sir," Hayling echoed.

"Hmpf." Dr. Death said, as if he didn't quite believe them. "I suppose it doesn't make too much difference. Anyway, Hayling_84, come with me please."

"Why?" Hayling asked. She looked at Rayla for an answer; Rayla had hung her head in defeat. She knew what this meant. It had only happened a hundred times. "Because you're being adopted. Now come on." Dr. Death answered shortly. Now Hayling understood, but when she looked back at Rayla, her whole facade had changed.

Rayla was smiling brightly at Hayling. "You're so lucky!" she said. "I hope your owner is really nice to you!"

Hayling didn't fall for it. "I'll never forget you," she whispered as she got out of her cage.

Rayla kept her smile. "I won't forget you, either," she said. "You're the best friend I ever had."

Hayling managed one other word before she left. "Goodbye."

SLAM!

Rayla stared after the door. "Goodbye, Hayling."

* * *

><p>Hayling loved her new owner, who treated her very well for a time. After all, purple was a great color! All shiny and such. Hayling normally would have minded the whole "I only love you for your color" thing, but right now she didn't care. It was love, and wasn't that all that mattered? Her mind did keep straying back to Rayla, though. Maybe her owner would adopt her, too!<p>

"She's a Blue Aisha."

"Yup!"

"And her name is Rayla_893012?"

"Yea, but I call her-"

"I don't think so."

"Why not?" asked Hayling.

"Uh, excuse me? That's one of the worst names I've ever heard, plus she's plain. Blue. Color. Come on!"

Hayling tried again. It still didn't work. She didn't understand! Why did color matter so darn much? Or name? Couldn't her owner see her name was Rayla? It was written right there! Oh well. She'd get it eventually. Hayling would just have to keep trying!

Rayla was quieter than ever now. No more picked locks, no more toys; she'd even gotten rid of what they had had. Except for one. She cuddled with the Purple Acara plush in her cage alone. Nothing much happened to her anymore. Dr. Death never visited; there was no noise for him to check on. No adopters came; no one even knew she existed. Even if they did, she was plain and badly named. No one was interested in her.

The only thing she still thought about was Hayling. Was her owner good to her? Was she loved? Rayla hoped she was living a good life, at least one better than hers.

Hayling's owner came over to her. "You can't bother me anymore about your friend for a while," she said.

"Why not?" Hayling asked. Maybe she would finally be adopted!

"Because they're closing the pound temporarily. Said they were renovating."

_Oh,_ Hayling thought. _Hey, this gives me more time! Now I have a while to work on my owner and get her to adopt Rayla!_

"You may not see her again, though," her owner added.

"NOW why?"

"Rumors are circulating that some pets are disappearing from the pound. No one knows what's happening to them, and it seems fairly random. Don't worry, there's a good chance she'll be safe," her owner added, noting the worried look on Hayling's face.

_That's good,_ Hayling thought. _But I wonder what's happening to all those pets…_

* * *

><p><em>They're dying.<em>

_All these pets are gone,_ Rayla thought. _It seems random; one day they're there, the next they're dead. I thought we couldn't die, though; perhaps THIS is what they meant by "renovations?" Are there too many pets in Neopia, and so they're clearing some out?_

Rayla's mind had changed course over the past few weeks, from thinking about Hayling to the deaths. The reason somewhat horrified her, somewhat comforted her; she wanted to be picked next. She wanted to die. But hadn't that been what she wanted all along? Keesha, Arin, Masu; since she'd lost her friends, she didn't want to live. Yet even pets that were in there had kept hope at that point; they all had a strong point or two. She had none. She'd never had an owner to care about anyway; for some reason, she'd been abandoned the day she was made. _So who can blame me for wanting to die?_ Rayla thought. _It seems natural… nothing to live for, no one to love… I'll just be a mindless husk if I stay here. I don't want that. I have nothing. It's better if I just leave._

Dr. Death entered the room. "One of you is leaving, I'm sorry to say," he said, not sounding sorry in the least. Rayla quietly spoke.

"Please tell me, sir, is it me?"

Dr. Death turned towards her, a look of- almost- surprise on his face.

"Yes."

* * *

><p>"NO!"<p>

Hayling screamed at her owner. "You can't mean this! You have to be joking! No no no no no!"

Her owner shrugged. "I went there today and asked about. They said she was gone too. So… yea."

"DON'T YOU EVEN CARE?" Hayling yelled. "She was my friend, my best friend, my only friend! And I told you! I told you to get her! Why? Why didn't you? I cared about her! I care about her more than you! You… you're a monster! And she's gone! I hate you!" Hayling burst out of the house, running away. Her owner watched her, shrugged, then wrote down a note.

"Note to self: when pound opens, abandon Hayling."

Hayling ran to the pound, slipped in the door, dashing back through the cages. _It isn't true… it can't be true… it won't be true…_ she kept saying to herself.

Rayla calmly sat up when she heard the door open. _It's him-_ but her thoughts were cut off. It wasn't him. It was Hayling. "Hayling?" she whispered. "What are you doing here?"

"Please don't tell me it's true! Please don't!" Hayling blurted out.

"Whoa, Hayling." Rayla said. "Don't tell you what's true?"

"That you are- that you will be gone... please don't say so!" Hayling said.

"Gone?"

"Like… like all those others…"

"Oh. They aren't gone, they're dead."

"DEAD?" Hayling nearly screamed. "Oh please, oh please don't tell me you are…"

"Hayling…" Rayla caught a few tears in her eye. "If I had known…"

Hayling stepped back. "No… you didn't… no…"

Rayla could only nod her head; a yes.

"Rayla… I…"

Rayla hung her head.

"It's all my fault!" Hayling burst out. "It's all my fault! I did this! I should have adopted you for my owner! Or something! I could have helped!"

"I don't know if you could have done anything…" Rayla perked up her ears. "You have to leave, Hayling. He… he's coming for me."

"No," Hayling said, suddenly in a much stronger tone. "No, I won't leave you. I've made up my mind on what to do."

Rayla didn't have time to ask before Dr. Death came in, along with an assistant. "It's time for you to- wait, how are YOU out of your cage?" he asked, first looking to Rayla before noticing Hayling.

"She isn't a-"

"I was… uh… trying to… find something?"

Rayla glanced at Hayling, who was trying an innocent face. Suddenly, she realized her plan. Instead of speaking up, she said nothing.

"Why you-" started Dr. Death. "Just for that, I'm going to get rid of you with Rayla_89- oh forget it, with Rayla," he said.

"Get… rid of me?" Hayling asked, sounding scared.

"Yes. You'll see what I mean… and very quickly," he brushed.

Hayling smiled for a second, then whispered to Rayla. "Ever hear of being 'friends till the end?'" she asked jokingly.

Rayla smiled. "Yes, but never quite as literally," she finished, as the door slammed behind them.


End file.
